In the comfort of your own home or even in a cubicle if you’re working from an office, this is the workout to stay energized and focused throughout the day. As Julie Kirk points out in The Entrepreneur Technology Hangover, it’s important to schedule breaks throughout the day. For your mental sanity and physical well-being, this workout is designed to invigorate the entire body.
It’s a good idea to take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour. Start off making one of those breaks, an Office Chair Workout. Progress to three or four every day. Since the exercises are bodyweight dependent, you can do this routine daily.
Rotate through the following 12 exercises for ten minutes. Are you ready? Let’s take a break from the computer. If you have a chair with rollers, lean it against a wall or the desk when completing the exercises.
1. Chair Squat
- Keep your knees behind your toes
- Back relaxed and straight
- Hands out for balance
- Increase speed for more intensity
- Don’t transfer weight to the chair
- Keep the abdominals tight
- Breathe out when sitting
2. Leaning Leg Extensions
- Lean forward on the chair with back parallel to floor
- Extend Right leg back to make a straight line from shoulders to heels
- Repeat 15 on right leg
- Switch to left leg and repeat 15 more times
3. Chair Dips
- Place arms on seat of chair with palms on cushion
- Shift weight forward with bent knees (straight legs are more challenging)
- Dip about 85 degrees down with upper arm not quite parallel to the floor
- Do not dip upper arms to a point where they are directed more toward the floor
- Complete 15 repetitions
4. High Knee Toe Taps
- Stand upright, face chair
- Alternate toes on top of chair seat
- Speed up for greater intensity
- Complete 30 repetitions
5. Hip Rotation
- Extend body out from chair
- Place palms on arm rests or seat of chair
- Shift body weight from one hip to the other
- Focus on using the abdominals and obliques to move the hips
- Complete 30 repetitions
6. Knee Presses
- Lean slightly back in the chair
- Lift knees toward the chest
- Return to outstretched position
- Complete 15 repetitions
7. Leaning Side Leg Extensions 
- Lean forward on the chair with back parallel to floor
- Extend Right leg to the side
- Repeat 15 on right leg
- Switch to left leg and repeat 15 more times
8. Rear Incline Push Ups
- Place feet in the seat of chair
- Walk hands out until body is in one straight line from shoulders to heels
- Complete push up with upper arm parallel to floor
- Complete 15 repetitions
9. Bicycle
- Lean slightly back in chair
- Crunch one knee in toward the chest with one leg extended
- Alternate movement
- Complete 30 repetitions
10. One-Legged Lunges
- Place one foot on chair
- Lunge without extending knee over toes
- Complete 15 repetitions with one leg
- Switch legs and repeat
11. Punches
- Sit up in chair
- Keep abdominals tight
- Alternate fast, powerful punches
- Complete 30 repetitions
12. Military Presses
- With or without weight
- Place arms to side and lift overhead
- Complete 15 repetitions
Repeat the cycle until the 10 to 15 minutes are up. Without a major change to your routines, incorporating exercise into the day can be fun and invigorating.
How did you do? What other moves do you throw into your regular working routine?
Cindy Posey, CI-CPT, is a physical trainer and author of Go Workout Mom, a blog designed to motivate moms to prioritize physical fitness. She is married to a wonderful man with two toddlers serving as her inspiration. She juggles life, tutoring, mystery shopping and a part time personal training job at a gym near home. For a dose of motivation, check out her Motivator Newsletter and free Mom’s Journal in Fitness to begin your journey in fitness.
Awesome! I never thought of it but the chair works. I hust gave several of those routines a try and they work great. The Hip Rotation and Chair Dips work the best for me.
these are cool ideas.. thanks for the post i will try them out not at work though they might just think i am crazy
Great!!! Chairs are one of many ways we can turn our home offices into a gym!
First of all I need an Office chair like that : )
I spend every day about 10 hours in front of a computer, I think it’s time to start to do this exercises here. Thanks for the tip!
Great ideas. I’ll try them in the office tomorrow and see what crazy looks I get! A sedantry lifestyle at work is really hard to break.
Wow! It’s ok if you live in the office but…nah
…though, spending 15 mins chair-energizing is definitely better than smoking.
Let’s keep it like this!
finding ways to keep fit by just using common furnitures is a very good initiative. working to much causes bad effects to us so we should have an exercise habit.